Paradox Interactive has acquired all brands from White Wolf, especially the World of Darkness with its many variations.
The Cainites Rise Again
It has been 12 years since the release of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, during which there has been no new game from this universe. For a long time, there were rumors about an MMO that was supposed to take place in the dark world full of vampires (without glitter!), werewolves, flesh shapers and other monsters, but the production was officially canceled 2 years ago. The developers CCP, who had bought White Wolf at that time, closed their US studio shortly afterward. Since then, it has been quiet around White Wolf – until now.
Paradox Interactive has now acquired the studio along with all its intellectual properties and is already actively planning the development of new games. The target audience is, as is typical for Paradox, somewhat older, so 25 years and up. This primarily corresponds to the long-time fans who have already played Bloodlines or the pen & paper and are more into dark, adult, and often rather cruel stories.
Personally, I am glad to see that there will be new stories from the World of Darkness. It’s been far too long since you could dominate others as a Ventrue or seduce people as a Toreador (or alternatively discuss with traffic signs as a Malkavian about who of us has more to say).
However, Paradox also makes me a bit skeptical, as they have not only proven in the past that they could produce good games (War of the Roses, Europa Universalis, Pillars of Eternity), but also that they can crash projects badly (War of the Vikings). I hope for the best, but expect the worst.
